PANCHTHAR, JUNE 28

A couple of Phalelung Rural Municipality in Panchthar prepared a burial place for themselves.

Man Prasad Kurumbang, 82, and his wife Budharani Kurumbang, 70, of the rural municipality dug a grave near their house for burial after their death. The couple planted fruit trees around the tomb, painted it and placed a steeple on the top of the zinc roof above the tomb.

They spent around Rs 113,000 on construction of the burial place.

Man Prasad said they prepared the grave so that their relatives would not have to undergo trouble for them after their death. “Relatives would have to labour and gather materials to prepare the grave and I don’t want to trouble them after we die,” he said.

The couple visits the grave daily and cleans it.

Relatives said they were asked to bring the body in a coffin and bury it in the grave. Man Prasad wants travellers to eat fruits around the grave.

He said bodies buried randomly would be excavated during construction of infrastructure projects and that would affect the environment.

“We had constructed the grave three years ago, but when death will come, we do not know,” said Man Prasad. He said they were happy while alive and no one knows what would happen after death.

Man Prasad has also prepared coffins to take them to the grave.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on June 29, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.